Saturday, October 29, 2011

We’ll here I am in sort of a small dilemma… not knowing which way to turn, or what to do, now I have so many choices, which one will work best!

A few months back we moved into our new home after having everything in storage for about four months, just after we had moved across the country again, this time from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Southern California.I’m so very glad to be settled finally!I still haven’t had a chance to get into my craft room and get it set up again, but it is coming soon.I’ve made a promise to myself that I would get it done before the end of the year, and that’s coming real soon!

Here is some of my dilemma…You know when you move into a new house, some furniture finds a new home in the new house where in the old house it was maybe used in a different area of the house.Well everything that I had in my craft and sewing room has been utilized in a different area in the house now, except for my Babylock Elegante sewing machine and the Koala sewing cabinet/table and one matching drawer base.The nice thing about this table is the back of the cabinet folds up making a nice big work space on the back of the table, which can be used for many different projects, not just sewing!

I guess this means I get to buy all new things, create a new look, figure out how I want it to look, what will work best.Wow… I’ve never had these choices before…I don’t even know where to start!

Lions, Tigers and Bears… Oh My!

My craft room in this house is bigger than any space I have ever had before! It is great to be able to start with a clean slate, but on the other had it can be and is a bit challenging too!

I think my biggest challenge is that I don’t just have one crafting love or passion… but I have many.What I mean by this is some just like scrapbooking/stamping/card making, which all this is sort of the same venue.They really don’t have a mixed palette of crafting likes, such as quilting, crocheting, jewelry making, candle making, soap making and much more…this is me!Now, your probably wondering how I’m going to get this all in one space!We’ll… I’m not! My soap making/candle making supplies will have a very small storage area in my husbands space in the garage since my craft room is on the second story the house we are in now. I really do like to have all my things for creativity in one spot, but I think that this will work out well in the long run.

I have been looking at many different youtube videos on how others have set up their craft spaces.Then I took a stroll thru all the picture of craft spaces on google images and yahoo images, and of course a few magazines, and other venues to see how others have put their crafting spaces together, and what type of storage they used to complete their crafting spaces.This has been most inspiring and I have gathered some real good ideas, even though crafting venues can be very different, storage is storage for almost all crafts.Some ideas just work better than others for certain kinds of crafts.A Craft Room That Reflects Your PassionI really like this little space, this is it in a nut shell in more way than one! Take a peek at this little craft room where you can craft your passion! http://video.about.com/familycrafts/Create-a-Craft-Room.htmHere's another crafter that has it going on! I really like Sharon's style of her crafting area. She has so much in her space but it is a very clean and crisp look, white has a classic and timeless feel. Look at all the storage that is in here room. You can see her crafting space here if you go to her blogsite. http://www.sharonsscrappyspace.com/p/my-scappy-space.htmlI liked Sharon's craft space so much, here's a video and pictures.... Enjoy! Here is another craft space that just grabs me and says... yes! You can see Karen has a real passion for her craft also!

I even check out these stores and online stores for furniture or storage that might work in creating my crafting passion space.Ikea, Michael’s, Target, Walmart, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, The Land of Nod, Pier 1, World Market, homedecorators.com, thecompanystore.com, organizeit.com, westelm.com, kidkraft.com, Stacks and Stacks, Container Store, Bed-Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things, Staples, Joann’s, Hancocks, waybasics.com, small furniture.com, organize.com, exposuresonline.com, aplaceforeverything.co.uk.

Okay...maybe I wasn't realistic with having my sewing and craft room finished by the end of the year! There are so may endless possibilities....

wre moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. So it went on hold, I had no idea what my craft room would look like in the new house or even if I would have a craft room....shutter the thought that I might not have a space to create! By the end of Feburary 2009 we were setttled in our new place and it had a real nice space for my craft room, Ithat made me happy! It didn't take me long to get settled in tto my new craft space, unlike my sitituation with no storage space in my craft room in this house.

I do know that I would like to have some bookshelves or cubbies, some opened some closed, either with drawers or doors, maybe even both.

I would like some wall curio shelves of some sort. A quilt design board wall would be real nice, I had one of these in my craft room when we lived in New Mexico, it was great! Some kind of picture board with ribbon, maybe even with a frame.

All of these crafting spaces are so well put together and thought out. This can be a bit challenging to figure out what might work best for you, but rest assured that it's not a rocket science, and most anything will work....it's figuring out what might work best, that's where your personal taste comes into play. What works well for one... might not work well for another!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

These little handmade inventions make great items for babies. Every baby should have at least one of each of these beauties! Taggy’s are Comfort Toys and Lovey’s are Comfort Blankets and usually they are vary colorful indeed!

Babies really seem to love these toys with the colorful ribbons. They won’t loose their Taggy’s when you attached them with the plastic ring, like this one shown in the first picture. You can attach the Taggy to their car seat or stroller, or for that matter you could attach them to anything so they will always have a play toy with them at all times for their playing enjoyment. I suppose you could even attach there pacifier and they wouldn’t loose that either!

Here is my Taggy of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too, trying to save Piglet on a blustery day.

For the Winnie the Pooh Taggy.... I cut my fabric out in 8 inch squares. I used two squares for the front and back. The ribbons I cut at 5 inches each and then folded when I inserted them into the fabric. Then pressed under a ½ inch all the way around the fabric, do this on both pieces. Laying one of the fabric squares print side down on the work table I pinned the ribbons to the fabric, the amount of ribbon hanging over the outside edge of the fabric is about 2 inches. This should give you about a ½ inch of the ribbon on the inside of the fabric that you will be sewing across with a double seam. Then laying the second piece of fabric square on top of the other piece with the ribbons attached by pins, then pin the two pieces of fabric together. Then after you have pinned it all together you will be ready sew it all the way around the edge with a ¼ inch seam from the outside edge of the fabric, then on the inside of that seam, sew another ¼ inch from that on the inside of the seam you have just sewn. This double stitch edge will hold the ribbons very securely in place.

I know that this won't be the last Taggy I make because this is a gift for any baby, very colorful and comforting as well..... Great to help with baby's sensory development!

Taggy’s come in many different styles….. Here are just a few variations.

There is so many different options that you can do with these Taggy's, these make great sensory toys. You can put squeakers, jingle bell balls, mini rattles and even some you can put the little touch tone music box.

Lovey’s can be made in several sizes and variations of styles also. Oh course Lovey’s always have a very soft cuddle side to them, hence minky dot, chenille, or flannel!

Here are a few to show how colorful and different they can be in size and design. These have the ring so it is possible to attach their pacifier to the Lovey, or attach to the car seat, stroller and such like.

These above are 12 x 12 inches, not including ribbons, which is about another 2 inches or so.

These above are 14 x 14 inches and are made with one side of cotton chenille which is very soft to the touch and the other side a cotton quilting fabric.

These below are 16 x 16 inches, not including ribbons.

Here is one below made with fleece and quality designer cotton fabric.

These below where made with flannel.

These two above are 15 x 15 inches, they are made of minky dot fabric on one side, flannel in the middle, and high end designer fabrics and the other.

Do you have a favorite? Which one is your favorite? Maybe you have one that's different than all these that you would like to share, please do we would like to see them!

Grand Passages of Music (Memories of Times Gone By)

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About Me

I was born and raised in Montana. I grew up loving nature, animals, quilting, arts and crafts. I really enjoy, the creative side of things. I guess that’s why my love for crafts has never disappeared only evolved over the years. I enjoy decorating and being inspired by magazines and books. I married my childhood sweetheart and we moved to the California Bay Area, where we lived for many years and raised our family. Then we traveled some and now we are living here in Southern California, where we will stay and enjoy our granddaughter. I was one that stayed home and raised my family, taking in a few extra children to help financially, then after raising my family worked as a Pharmacy Tech for many more years. Now... really just enjoying my grand daughter in her early years. My husband and I are care takers of a small horse ranch here in SoCal.
La Bonne Vie!